10年前に誕生したこの千曲市は千曲川の中心に位置しているからこそ、この名前。その千曲川の存在を強化する為に千曲市が千曲川沿いの周辺の市町村と広域連携をとって「千曲川ブランド」をPRしている。今年で二年目で「千曲川ブランドフェア―」を開催しました。
9月14・15日に戸倉体育館で千曲川の源流から栄村まで、30市町村の道の駅やご当地ブランドからの特産品の試食・販売があった。
うちの子供達を連れて、千曲ブランドフェア―に行きました。試食はもちろん、信州のプロバスケブレイブウォリアーズのチアーリーダー達やゆるキャラなどで、大喜び。
千曲市が先頭で、千曲川「ブランド」強化の努力を応援しています！
戸倉上山田町興し仲間、りんごとぶどう農家の飛田さんは素晴らしい発想で長野県観光キャラクター「あるくま」をりんごのマスコットにしました。県観光課及びJRと交渉して、オリジナルなりんご箱を作りました。
同じ美味しいりんごで目立つブランドがある事によってお客さんの反応が違いますね。
10月からりんごのシーズンが始まるので、今年は初めてのあるくまりんごは楽しみ♪
飛田さんの努力は凄い！
One of my buddies here working to improve Togura-Kamiyamada is apple and grape orchardist Tobita-san. He negotiated with the Nagano Prefecture Tourism Dept. as well as Japan Rail to use the prefectures's official tourism character "Arukuma" for branding for his apples.
Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Would an apple in an Arukuma box taste any better? Probably not, but it sure would gather more attention!
My hat is off to Tobita-san and all of his tremendous efforts!
テレビの撮影で上山田温泉本通りにあるまんじゅと御菓子屋さん「塩川」に入りました。新しい一品がありました：
あんずジャムソフト♪
自転車乗りの後だったからまんじゅはまず頂きましたが、そのあんずジャムソフトの美味しい事！冷たくて美味いバニラソフトに尼酸っぱい杏ジャムの組み合わせは最高です。バニラソフトはもちろん美味しいし、杏ジャムは大好きですが、その二つを足せば１＋１＝２ではなく、３ぐらいになります。戸倉上山田の新しいヒット商品が生まれました！
塩川店の努力に感動！
During a video shoot for a TV show, I stopped in at Shiokawa, a confectionary shop on Kamiyamada Onsen's main street. I was pleased to see he has a new menu item: Softserve ice cream with apricot jam!
Vanilla soft ice cream is of course yummy, and I love the tartness of apricot jam, but the two together is simply wonderful. It's like a new star has been born here at Togura Kamiyamada!
I applaud Shiokawa's efforts!
秀吉豊臣、
リンカーン大統領、
三島由紀夫、
と日本庭園の先生？
私は旅館の若旦那となって様々な分野の勉強をする事になりました。その一つは庭、つまり、日本庭園。もっと言えたら、その全てが庭。と言うのは、日本庭園とそれと外せない茶道、特に茶道の中の「茶室」は「音楽以外日本の文化の全てが入っている」。
その教えは私からではなく、庭師の小口基實先生からです。私が日本庭園の勉強の為に先生のお書きになった本「日本庭園の作り方」から始まりました。竹の割り方の様な単純な作業から滝の作り方まで様々日本庭園の事が親切に説明されているこの本に感動しました。庭を見る方の目線、喜びを取り入れた庭作りに関心もしました。
この本の教えに従いながら、亀清の庭師の岡田さんと一緒に露天風呂や客室の坪庭を作ってきました。
ところで、この間のテレビ取材で「この本を使っていますよ」と紹介しました。その事が本を書いた小口先生の耳に入ったらしいです。先生が長野県に事務所があり、先日はわざわざ亀清旅館まで足を運んで来てくださりました。
日本の庭師は一部が哲学者ですよね。結局、2時間半ぐらいの色んな話で盛り上がった。秀吉（茶室の文化）、三島(日本の失った武士道）、リンカーン大統領(どういう訳か暗殺者の打ち明け）、奥深い話に飛び入れました。
日本の心はもちろん、そしてアメリカ人の心も見えてきました。「日本人は知れば知るほど、専門家に任せる。アメリカ人は知れば知るほど、自分で作る。だからこの本を英語で出した。」と。
私は正にそう。
日本庭園。見る人の目線をどうするか。
感心しました。
小口先生、忘れられない一時を有難うございました！
戸倉上山田温泉と信州全体では9月＝葡萄の時期です。
子のぶどうの時期の代表なイベントはJAちくまの「ぶどう祭り」。2013年は第3回となり、9月20日(金)と21日(土）にJAちくま八幡支所(温泉から車で約10分)で開催される予定です。
亀清旅館では今月に三色の採りたての葡萄をお客様の夕食のデザートの時に提供しております。しかし、実はもっともっと種類が沢山ある。このぶどう祭で何と30種類のぶどうが出るらしい。試食しながら量り売り、搾りたてぶどうジュースなど楽しみは沢山！
家も子供達を連れて行きたいと思っているので、ご一緒に行きませんか？
Around our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada as well as Nagano Prefecture as a whole, September is known as Grape Month. Everywhere you go it seems there are grape orchards. And this is the month when the harvest takes place. To mark this season, our local ag coop JA Chikuma holds a Grape Fair.
Here at Kamesei Ryokan, we serve three colors of grapes to our guests with their dinners during the grape season. But actually, there are a lot more varieties. In fact, at the JA Chikuma Grape Fair, over 30 varieties will be on display. The 2013 edition of the festival is the 3rd annual, and will take place on Friday 20-Sept. and Saturday 21-Sept. at the JA Chikuma Yawata Office, a 10-minute drive from our onsen town. There will be free tasting, grape sales by the pound, fresh squeezed grape juice, and more!
I intend to take our kids this year -- won't you come with us?
上山田温泉旅館組合の総会が晴山さんで行われた。その後の懇親会でこんな豪華な刺身が出ました。折り紙の鶴は良い演出ですし。大変ご馳走様でした。
ちなみに、亀清旅館で外国のお客様に会席料理を出す時に必ず聞かれます： 「どこから食べたら良い？」
つまり、あんな品数に慣れていない訳。旬の物、酢の物、お造り、台の物、蒸し物等など、あまりにも多い品数で驚きます。どこから食べるのに悩んでしまう。
そこで、私がいつも答えるのは、
二つな考え方がある。
一つは温かい物から。焼き魚とか茶わん蒸しは冷めない内に食べた方が美味しいから。
もう一つは、人間っていつ死ぬか分からないから、刺身から食べた方が良いって考え方もある。つまり、「刺身ルール」。
皆さんはどうですか？私はちなみに「刺身ルール」派です。
At a recent banquet, we were served some really gorgeous sashimi. I especially liked the origami crane touch.
It reminded me of something that often takes place here at Kamesei Ryokan when we serve our chef's Kaiseki-style dinner to guests from overseas. They invariably ask, "Where do we start eating?" The sheer number of dishes that come with the kaiseki meal can be daunting to the uninitiated.
I usually reply that they are two ways of approaching the issue.
One is to start with the hot dishes. The grilled fish and chawanmushi steamed egg custard taste better before they are allowed to cool.
The other one has to do with the fact that as humans, we never know when we are going to do. Hence, it's best to start with the sashimi.
I call it the "Sashimi Rule".
How about you? Which approach to do you prefer? I myself subscribe to the Sashimi Rule.
駒ヶ根の蕎麦畑
天竜川の近辺
中央アルプスの背景で
新そばは楽しみに♪
Buckwheat field in Komagane City,
Near the Tenryu River,
Chuo (Central) Alps in the Distance.
I am looking forward to eating soba noodles made from new crop buckwheat!
Yomeishu Komagane Plant with the Southern Japanese Alps in the distance
駒ヶ根市周辺に独特な工場見学はいくつかがある。以前はマルスウィスキーと南信州ビール工場の事を書いた。マルスウィスキーは世界レベルで注目されているので、お勧めです。
しかし、もっともっと「信州らしい」のは養命酒の駒ヶ根工場。
薬用養命酒は14種類の生薬で作られて、その一部はこの中央アルプスの自然から来る。工場の周りの敷地は36万m2、その約70％が森林だそうです。この自然から生まれた養命酒の瓶詰と梱包の見学が出来、薬酒の造り方の説明動画も見えます。
それだけで十分価値がある所、その上に記念館とカフェ「ヒーリングテラス」となっている改造した酒蔵もあり、森林の中の散策コースもいくつかあり、そしてこの土地で発見された縄文・弥生・平安時代の遺跡に記念して、それぞれの時代の復元された建物もある。
養命酒駒ヶ根工場はただの工場だけじゃないです。信州の自然・大昔の人々の生活を物語ります。
Komagane City is home to Yomeishu, the medicinal liqueur. This herbal tonic is made from 14 natural medicinal ingredients, many of which are found here at the base of the Central Japanese Alps. In fact, the plant's grounds cover over 360,000m2 of which 70% are natural forest.
Factory tours start by driving to the plant's entrance gate, where guests are directed to the visitors parking lot. A short walk takes you to the main entrance building and its elegant lobby. Walk up the stairs where a greeter takes your name and address, and guides you to the theater room for a 10 minute video presentation (with English subtitles) about the history and manufacturing process of Yomeishu. After that, the guide takes visitors across to the bottling plant where you can see the automated bottling and packing lines. (Explanatory signs in English.) The tour finishes with a sampling of Yomeishu (except for designated drivers -- they get a bottle of mineral water that also comes from the plant.)
The tour in and of itself is worthwhile, but that is not all. There are 4 nature walks to enjoy the forested grounds, a restored sake storehouse that serves as a museum (which holds classes on natural herbs and medicinal Chinese cooking) and cafe, and 3 restored prehistoric dwellings representing artifacts found on the site from 3 separate ancient eras: the Jomon, Yayoi and Heian periods.
A factory tour of the Yomeishu Komagane Plant will give you a deeper understanding of Nagano's rich natural environment and its connection to the people here from times past to the present.
The bright, airy lobby
Restored storehouse with terrace cafe
Stream along one of the nature walks
長野県らしい体験を海外に紹介する「ユニーク長野」の事業で駒ヶ根シルクミュージアムを視察してきました。日本の「シルクロード」はこの伊那谷から始まって横浜港まで続いて、世界へ輸出されました。
きっと私の自家のシアトル港へ運ばれたでしょう。私にとっては生まれた町と新しいホーム、長野との嬉しいつながり。
最寄の駅からは遠いし、体験の「まゆクラフト」とかは子供っぽいとの心配でした。しかし行ってみれば、個人的に興味深い内容ばかりで館長の関さんと体験工房の矢島さんのご丁寧なご案内で2時間もいました。シルクの世界歴史や信州でのルーツに興味のある方にはお勧め！
As part of the Unique Nagano project to introduce Nagano's unique activities and cultural experiences to the world, I took a tour of the Komagane Silk Museum.
Japan's historical silk road originated here in Komagane and the Ina Valley and extended to Yokohama Port where the silk was exported to the world. The Komagane Silk Museum not only describes that history, but that of the the role of silk throughout the world as well as throughout the ages. It is a working museum, with a research lab where silkworms are actually grown for their cocoons. It boasts a full workshop where visitors can do everything from making cocoon-based crafts to dyeing silk fabric or weaving a silk tapestry at a real loom.
To be honest, at first I was dubious about the Komagane Silk Museum, with its location far from public transport and some of the crafts struck me as being a bit childish. However, the curator, Seki-san, very kindly gave me a tour of the museum and workshop, leaving me amazed at how fascinating the history and complexity of how silk is made and used. Curious about how many cocoons it takes to make a kimono? See the glass cannister filled with cocoons. Want to know where the indigo dye for the silk dyeing comes from? There are indigo plants right outside of the workshop. Ever seen a real-life silkworm? Check out the lab where you can see the larvae munching away at mulberry leaves. (By the way, cocoons used in the workshop are grown in the museum's lab, and the indigo dye is hand-made on-site from the indigo plants growin in the museum's garden.)
Yajima-san, the workshop attendant, sat me down to make a tanuki raccoon dog out of cocoons. It turned out to be a very educational experience getting to work with real silk cocoons with my very own hands, feeling and getting accustomed to their physical properties. Then Yajima-san pointed out some of the intricate silk craftwork on display, everything from silk flowers to samurai dolls made from cocoons. Obviously, working with silk for crafts is not just for children!
There is very little English explanation at the museum other than a brief description reproduced (with editing by me) below. But the workshop activities are all hands-on enough that verbal explanation wouldn't be necessary.
The facility's location is in a hard-to-find spot quite far from the nearest train station, Komagane on the JR Iida Line. It's 10 minutes by taxi, and I do recommend taxi as the driver would likely be able to navigate the backcountry roads to get to the museum with no problem. The taxi fare would be approx. 2000 yen, well worth it for the indepth silk experience the Komagane Silk Museum provides.
KOMAGANE SILK MUSEUM
A working museum featuring a wide range of sericulture activities from silk-reeling history to the latest silkworm research.
1F EXHIBITION ROOM
*Restored Seri Culturist's Farm House (dates back to 1920-1940)
*History of Silk
Explains the origin of sericulture and fabric making in China from 420-479AC, as well as silk making developments in Japan during the Edo era. Includes ukiyoe woodblock prints circa 1600 depicting various scenes of silk making.
*Japanese Silk Manufacturers Trademark Emblems
From the era when Japan was the world's largest silk exporter.
*Sericulture in Developing Countries (Nepal, India, Brazil, China, etc.)
Maps and videos of the history of the Silk Road across Asia, as well as Japan's own silk road from the Ina Valley to the port of Yokohama.
*Sericulture at the Imperial Household
Her Majesty the Empress Michiko working with silk making.
*History of Local Silk Manufacturing Unions
The Ryusuisha and Kamiinasha silk reeling unions, with actual automatic silk reeling machines, seriplan testing utensils, etc.)
*Silk Making Equipment
Various tools and utensils used in the silk making process.
*Characteristics of Silk
Explanation about the properties and structure of silk as well as its use in clothes (e.g. silk stockings).
*Uses of Silk
Domestic silk products, "Ina Tsumugi" - the local style of silk weaving, silk used in traditional clothing from around the world, etc.
*Alternative Uses of Silk
Handmade cocoon dolls, artificial flowers and more.
*Silkworm Lifecycle
Visual aids to explain the incredible growth stages (30-times the original size!) of the silk worm. Includes a rotating model of the silkworm's inner structure, microscopic views of silkworm tissues, and cocoon samples from different varieties of silkworms.
*Silkworm Growing Lab
Actual silkworms being raised for study and cocoon making.
*Mini Theater
Video presentations on the lifecycle of silkworms as well as the biotechnology and uses of silk.
*Special Exhibit Room
Silk-related special exhibits are held throughout the year. Since the opening of the museum, several dozens of exhibits have been held over the years, with reference books issued in conjunction with the exhibitions.
1F WORKSHOP
Visitors can try their hand at a variety of silk-related activities, including:
Cocoon Craft
Loom Weaving
Dyeing
Activities can be enjoyed by children as well as adults. They can take anywhere from 30 minutes for making a small doll out of cocoons or weaving a drink coaster, to thorough lessons on more elaborate silk creations.
2F SHOPS & RESTAURANTS
Farmers Market, Museum Shop, All-you-can-eat lunch buffet restaurant "NANA-chan".
駒ヶ根シルクミュージアム Komagane Silk Museum
Curator Seki-san showing some of the weavings that can be made at the workshop's looms
Cocoon Craft examples
Tyler making a cocoon tanuki (raccoon dog)
Silk Dyeing examples
Indigo Plants in the Museum's Garden
Examples of cocoon craft art (Yes -- those samurai armor are made from silkworm cocoons!)
Examples of spool & silk thread crafts
Real, live silkworms in the museum's research lab
Display of traditional silk clothing from around the world in the museum
亀清旅館・戸倉上山田温泉から車で10分の「田毎の月」で有名な姨捨棚田。今は金黄の穂波状態。稲刈りはあと2週間？
日本の原風景だ。
The famous moon-reflecting terraced rice fields of Obasute, a short 10 minute drive from Kamesei Ryokan and our onsen town, Togura-Kamiyamada. Harvest is set to start in a couple of weeks.
Golden waves of grain -- a quintessential landscape of the Japanese countryside.
